At the January 16th dinner meeting of the KSA it was announced that the KSA will sponsor both a bike and a team of riders in the upcoming Saturday Feb. 24th. Spin 12 event to be held at Rebel Creek Golf Club.

Organizers hope to raise over $100,000 for the Cardiac Care Unit at St. Mary's Hospital and $30,000 in funding for young Ontario athletes. (KSA's Olympic Dreams program will be one of the beneficiaries of this campaign.) Rich Donnelle, one of the SPIN 12 organiziers, made a presentation to the KSA membership and pointed out that ALL supplies, bikes, services, etc. have been donated so 100% of ALL monies pledged will go to St. Mary's Hospital. (The athletic portion of the funds will come from money raised through fees charged to sponsor bikes and teams.) KSA's team of riders consisted of: Bill Pegg, Neil Gillis, Gord Dearborn, Kelly Doherty, Toni Pottier, Max Pottier, Laurie Vandenhoff, Brenda McTearnen, Bill Smith, Rick Weinstein, Rob Thompson and John Thompson.

Bob McKillop ran a quiz, funding of $8,000 was approved for the Scholarship Program and the following cheques were presented:

Held in support of local athletes, Big Brothers & Big Sisters and Camp McGovern in the Subscribers' Lounge at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. ($5,000 was donated to Camp McGovern.)
The event also featured a special honorary chair for the first time. This year's chair was Paul Coffey, the former Kitchener Rangers player and NHL hall-of-famer who won Stanley Cups with Edmonton and Pittsburgh.Paul was the perfect role model to speak to our nominees as they strive to be the best in the world! His accomplishments include: * 4 Stanley Cups * 3 Norris Trophies * 11th Leading Scorer in NHL history * Single Season Record for Defencemen with 48 goals in 1986! Visit our AofYear web page for more on this event.

July 9, 2007: At a special meeting called in the summer, KSA members accepted the recommendation of the KSA Operating Committee and pledged $100,000 in support of the "Places to Play" campaign, and as a "Leader," naming rights for the lobby. John Thompson, President of the KSA, noted that this is the largest grant ever given by the KSA since its founding in 1944 and is reminiscent of the KSA's initial mandate in 1944, when the organization was formed to provide a key role in the building of a new indoor arena facility. The result was the construction of the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, the jewel of the sports facility assets in our community.

PLACES TO PLAY CAMPAIGN

Our sporting community is embarking on a significant project - the "Places to Play" campaign, to raise funds for the new multi-sport facility that is being built on Hanson Avenue (adjacent to St. Mary's high School).

The City of Kitchener is proceeding with construction of a twin-ice pad, boxing facility and indoor walking track that will be a great addition to the sports facility assets in our community. The basic building is being funded as part of the City of Kitchener's ongoing capital projects. However, the opportunity exists for "sports partners" to significantly enhance the facility, with funds raised from the "Places to Play" campaign. KSA is proud to join with the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association, the Waterloo Regional Boxing Academy, and the City of Kitchener in this undertaking. With a target of $2,000,000, the final result was the construction of the Activa SportsPlex

Sept. 18, 2007: Kitchener Minor Boys' Softball Capital Campaign

The President of KMBSA, Mark May, made a solid pitch for KSA's support of the $100,000 capital campaign to fund the new concession facilities at their home base - Wilson Park. There are four diamonds at Wilson but concession sales are currently conducted from tents and washroom facilities are those of the nearby pool (when open). The project will permit Boys' Softball, and other users of Wilson Park, to run better programs, seek more tournaments and raise revenue through increased sales. The proposal included not only a permanent kitchen but also washrooms and storage for on-site equipment needs & recycling bins.

With the recent merger of Waterloo Minor Boys' Softball with Kitchener, there were expectations of a 30% increase (hopefully!) in enrollment and demand. With funding in place, Kitchener City Council approved the project (in October) in time for construction to start immediately thereafter so the facilities were ready for use during the 2008 ball season.

KSA membership lost little time in pledging $7,000 to the campaign -- a joint project of the City of Kitchener and the KMBSA -- and look forward to the grand opening ceremonies as this has been a dream for many, many seasons.

October: KSA's AGM and dinner with the Rangers Directors

Nov. 13, 2007: Volunteer Dinner with Jim Fanning

Visit the 2007 webpage under the Volunteer Recognition Program section.